What Every Gentile And Secular Jew Needs To Know: A Yom Kippur Primerhttps://lidblog.com/yom-kippur-primer/I’m sure you have heard of Yom Kippur and loosely know it’s a fast day, but do you know what’s really happening behind the walls of your friendly neighborhood Synagogue or in your Jewish neighbor’s house? The below tries to explain Yom Kippur to you in a way you might enjoy…at least it won’t be too Jewish, which is something that Gentiles and secular Jews will appreciate.
Yom Kippur is one of only two 25-hour fasts on the Jewish calendar (the other is Tisha B’av). Tisha B’av is a sad fact as we memorialize all the bad things that happened to the Jewish people on that day, and there were many. The two most serious were the destruction of the first and second Holy Temples to God atop Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. But there is a long list of other things, including the Jews being tossed out of Spain in 1492 or Barack Obama making the keynote speech at the 2004 DNC that positioned him to become the 2008 candidate.
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Only the Kohan Gadol was allowed in the holy of holies and only on Yom Kippur. We are told that when the Kohan Gadol entered the Holy of Holies, a rope was tied to his ankle so that if he died while in, there would be a way to get his body out. If he was impure when going into that sacred sanctuary, he would not survive. In other words, God took the atonement thing seriously. Keep in mind there is no record of any Kohan Gadol dying during the Yom Kippur ceremony.
As there hasn’t been a Kohan Gadol since the destruction of the second Temple, on Yom Kippur us regular Jews fast. Fasting on Yom Kippur means giving up much more than food. We give up nourishment, sex, washing, applying lotions or creams, and leather footwear. But let’s face it, after giving up food and sex, do the other three really matter?
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Gentiles Please Note: If you live in a community where there are live, in-person Yom Kippur services, I strongly recommend you stay out of the way of the throng of Jews leaving the Shul and heading for nourishment at the end of the holiday. It is more dangerous than getting between Senator Chuck Schumer and a TV camera or Rep. Eric Swalwell and the Chinese Spy Fang Fang.
There's good information and good humor mixed in this article. Take serious what is serious and humorous what is humorous and I think it'll be enjoyable.
